New York City’s law department has issued a request for proposals to provide bond counsel and disclosure counsel services.
The counsel would serve the city in its general obligation offerings, along with two conduit issuers, the New York City Transitional Finance Authority and the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority.
Counsel would also represent the Tobacco Settlement Asset Securitization Corp., or TSASC Inc., the Fiscal Year 2005 Securitization Corp. and the Sales Tax Asset Receivable Corp.
According to a spokeswoman for city Comptroller John Liu, the existing bond counsel contract ran from Jan. 1, 2010, to Dec. 31, 2011, with a one-year extension.
“Were in the extension period,” she said.
Existing bond counsel is Sidley Austin LLP for GOs, TFA personal income tax bonds, TFA building aid revenue bonds and Fiscal Year 2005 Securitization bonds; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP for the MWFA and TSASC bonds; and Nixon Peabody LLP for Sales Tax Asset Receivable bonds.
An electronic copy of the RFP is available by sending an email to Samuel Moriber of the law department, at
Completed proposals are due by 5 p.m. Feb. 28.
The city’s GOs are rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service and an equivalent AA by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s.
New York Water sold $400 million of second resolution, fixed-rate, tax-exempt new-money bonds on Jan. 23 through a negotiated sale, with Ramirez & Co. the book-running senior manager.
During the one-day retail order period, the issuer received $106 million of orders. Yields at final pricing ranged from 1.22% in the 2018 maturity to 3.94% in the 2045 maturity.
Barclays Capital, Jefferies & Co., Morgan Keegan, and M.R. Beal & Co. were co-senior managers.
Moody’s rated the bonds Aa2, while Fitch and S&P both rated them AA-plus.
